Information, announcements, and hard-earned wisdom for students in the Master of Arts Program in the Humanities at the University of Chicago.

Frolic for Free in September

So it seems that more and more of you incoming MAPHers are trickling into town. Welcome! I hope that you’re having fun picking out your new JanSport Backpack and getting excited about that first cool day–come on, sweater weather! MAPH core will begin soon, taking up a lot of your time and brain power, but because Fall quarter does not officially begin until the end of the month, September is a great time to GET OUT and see Chicago. I’d like to share a few free/cheap Chicago-y events to help you do so in the coming weeks:

First of all, the 32nd annual Chicago Jazz festival is happening over Labor Day weekend, from Thursday September 2nd to Sunday September 5th. Concerts will be held in three different locations: Millennium Park, the Chicago Cultural Center, and Grant Park. This year’s festival will feature Nicole Mitchell’s Blakk Earth Orchestra and Ramsey Lewis on Friday night in Millennium Park. Oh, and guess what–all concerts are FREE! Click here to see the complete performance schedule.

And while you’re at the cultural center, you might as well check out this FREE exhibit on the fourth floor: The Jazz Loft Project features the photographs and audio recordings of Eugene Smith, who documented his habitation of an NYC loft, including his encounters there with Norman Mailer, Thelonious Monk, and Salvador Dali. Hilary highly recommends this exhibit which is on display through September 19th.

Last but definitely not least, the RENEGADE CRAFT FAIR is taking place on Saturday September 11th and Sunday September 12th from 11am to 7pm. (You may recall that our first official MAPH event, the film screening and Welcome BBQ are scheduled for the 12th.) Renegade is a huge DIY craft fair which was born in Chicago and has since spread to several other (great) cities. Admission is, of course, FREE. At Renegade, you can take a craft workshop, listen to some live music, drink some beer, and support independent makers. What could be better than that?

Stay tuned for upcoming posts about the World Music Festival complete with recommendations. It’s all going down in September, y’all. And in the meantime… GO! FROLIC!